In the Palace they warn that one of the novelties of this first 8M of President Gabriel Boric in La Moneda will be a package of “three or four announcements” of an economic nature, destined to favor women. The central activity in the Government House will be chaired by the President, but they assure that the event will have the Minister for Women and Gender Equality, Antonia Orellana (Social Convergence), as its main protagonist, with the aim of highlighting her figure in moments in which the polls do not favor her, to the point of placing her as the least popular Minister for Women since this portfolio was created in 2015.
It should be noted that Minister Orellana is one of the secretaries of state that is mentioned that she could come out in the eventual cabinet change that the Boric administration is preparing. This is striking, considering that the current one declared itself the first feminist government in Chile and gave this Secretary of State great importance by including its head in the Political Committee, together with portfolios that traditionally occupy this decision-making space. , such as Interior, General Secretariat of Government, Treasury, among others.
One year after the entry of Antonia Orellana to the Political Committee, they point out that the weight of the Minister for Women has decreased mainly due to the little prominence that feminist causes have had on the government agenda and parliamentary discussion. In the ruling party they indicate that “the Executive receives 8M with the image that this feminist government is less and less feminist.” Another element that has played against Orellana’s protagonism has been the important role that other women ministers are playing in the contingency, such as the spokeswoman, Camila Vallejo; the head of the Interior, Carolina Tohá; and the Minister of the General Secretary of the Presidency, Ana Lya Uriarte, who are constantly addressing issues such as crime or legislative discussion.
It is expected that the official act in La Moneda will be attended by about 250 guests and –according to sources close to the organization of the event– an important part of the event will feature speeches by representatives of civil society associated with women.
The specific economic announcements, which have been handled with great secrecy, will be announced by Minister Orellana and will be aimed at supporting the mainstreaming of the gender approach which postulates that all women experience different forms of discrimination based on their race, people or orientation, identity or sexual expression, and the fight against gender violence. “We hope to get to Wednesday with good news. Today the reparation project for children of victims of femicide is voted on. We will focus on economics and violence against women. An important part of what we can do in prevention is in relation to decisions, which are mediated by autonomy. Therefore, our focus is on the economic and labor aspects. Our focus is wage inequality, informality and lack of opportunity for women,” Minister Orellana announced this Monday to Radio Future.
In La Moneda they point out that President Boric has commissioned women to be the true protagonists of the day. During the afternoon of this Wednesday, the President plans to leave Santiago for Tarapacá, in what will be his first visit to that area affected by the wave of illegal immigration and where he will remain until March 10, for which Minister Orellana will be who will close the day of activities organized for 8M. Then, the minister plans to travel to the United States to participate in the Commission on the Legal and Social Status of Women, organized by the United Nations (UN), based in New York.
Regarding the role of the spokes minister, Camila Vallejo, in the General Secretariat of the Government they insist that Minister Orellana will be the one to lead the activities and specify that Vallejo does not plan to participate in the official march that is usually carried out in the center of Santiago, as he did in 2022, when he was about to assume the Government.
